Sometimes You Need a Scene Where You Save the Baby by Passing Him Around as if He Were a Ball
In late 2005, the first game in the Yakuza franchise (known as Like a Dragon in Japanese) saw the light of day.
The series has become notorious for its incredible, whip-lash inducing switches from the most melodramatic moments to the dumbest, most non-sensical story sequences, alongside its karaoke and dance mini-games.
Of course, the series has plot twists on plot twists. Secret Koreans take the place of characters as body-doubles, characters fight tigers with their bare hands and, yes, the Korean mafia attempt to steal away a baby, leading to the boy being passed around as if it were a rugby match while the main characters go down one by one.
Combining the serious and the deeply unserious is sometimes the best combination.
The series teaches one thing: We’re people, not robots.
We need laughter. We might crave progress and improvement, but we can’t be serious all the time. Sequences, like the one above, imprint a statement.
It’s not that serious.
The more we try, the less we accomplish. The universe tends to be cruel like that. The more you care, the more you try to force it—the harder you get shut down.
The ones who are too serious are a drag to be around.
It’s not until you learn to be more unserious that the universe deems you worthy to get what you desire.
And then it showers you in it.
Progress is about having fun.
Have you ever looked up to someone? Been enchanted by a person’s deep knowledge?
Chances are that person finds the topic thrilling.
They have a genuine curiosity, that they work ceaselessly to turn into a passion. Through that passion they cultivate mastery. Mastery might be what you seek as well—but it doesn’t come easy.
Mastery is repetition.
It’s work. Constant, unglamorous work. If you want to have any hope of achieving it, you better believe that you need to find the fun in progress.
Be sincere, not serious.
Instead of being serious, strive to be sincere. Strive to be kind, committed and persistent, but keep that spirit of unseriousness alive.
It’s just more fun.
Are you working persistently at something that still seems to elude you?
What if you took it less seriously?
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Loved this, Rasmus—it’s such a great reminder. Some of my favorite gaming moments mix humor and seriousness perfectly, like in RDR2 and The Witcher. Progress doesn’t have to be all grit—finding the fun makes it meaningful.